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IHC Open House

McCune Conference Room, 6020 HSSB Santa Barbara, CA, United States

You are invited to the IHC’s Open House on Thursday, October 3, from 4-6 pm. Cosponsored by the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center and the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts. Meet new Humanities faculty, IHC fellows, and staff members. Learn about Critical Mass, our 2019-2020 public events series. Find out about our community-engagement programs and our numerous funding resources for faculty and graduate students. Enjoy good food, drink, and conversation.

Critical Mass Inaugural Lecture: Plastic’s Tipping Point

McCune Conference Room, 6020 HSSB Santa Barbara, CA, United States

Plastic production, use, and pollution have been growing steadily for decades, without much public comment or concern. But suddenly, and very recently, there has been strong and widespread backlash against the pervasiveness of plastic. What prompted this sudden change in public opinion?  Did plastic pollution itself reach a tipping point?  Or did public attitudes toward this pollutant undergo a radical shift? Roland Geyer will discuss the history of global plastic production and disposal and will ...

Public Forum: Building a Green New Deal: Community, Coalition, and Organizing for Environmental Justice

McCune Conference Room, 6020 HSSB Santa Barbara, CA, United States

In communities, classrooms, and protest sites across the country, people have embraced the call for a Green New Deal as a way of recognizing that climate change presents us with an unprecedented historic challenge—and the need for comprehensive and transformational reform. California’s Central Coast has a powerful tradition of grassroots activism to draw on in rising to the challenge, from the wide-ranging environmental movement sparked by the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill to the multi-racial ...

Screening and Panel Discussion: Surviving Home

Multicultural Center Theater 494 UCen Road, Isla Vista, CA, United States

SURVIVING HOME is an intimate documentary that follows four U.S. military veterans from different generations over an eight year period as they rebuild their lives after war. Interwoven with veterans' voices from across the country, their unique paths of healing and transformation shed light on longterm consequences of war and raise questions about the roots of war and societal cycles of violence. A severely injured Iraq War veteran discovers a new voice that helps heal ...

Critical Mass Talk: Ady Barkan: Love and Death, Hope and Resistance

McCune Conference Room, 6020 HSSB Santa Barbara, CA, United States

Sitting in that hotel armchair, I realized that my deadly disease was giving me newfound power at the very moment it was depriving me of so much strength. My voice was growing softer, but I was being heard by more people than ever before. My legs were disintegrating, but more and more people were following in my footsteps. Precisely because my days were numbered, people drew inspiration from my decision to spend them in resistance. ...

Critical Mass Talk: Nations in Crisis, People in Crisis: Connecting Upheaval

Corwin Pavilion 494 UCEN Rd, Isla Vista, CA, United States

IHC Director Susan Derwin asked Jared Diamond, UCLA Professor of Geography, a few questions about his work in light of the current pandemic. Read his comments here. Nations that successfully navigate crises do so by making selective changes to their identities and actions. When individuals experience crises—mid-life, financial, health, relationship—they may also adopt selective changes to overcome the situation. But some individuals, like some nations, are better at navigating upheaval than others. By drawing on the factors ...

Critical Mass Talk: Art as Compass and Catalyst for Change

McCune Conference Room, 6020 HSSB Santa Barbara, CA, United States

Amplifier.org is "a nonprofit design lab that builds art and media experiments to amplify the most important movements of our times." In this lecture the Founder of Amplifier will speak on the power of art at threshold moments, recounting visual campaigns like We The People, which flooded the streets for the Women's March and 2017 Presidential Inauguration protests. Amplifier believes that in times of uncertainty—in times like these, when fear and misinformation attempt to divide ...

Critical Mass Talks and Staged Reading: On Collecting and Hoarding

Zoom

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS: 4:00 - 5:15 PM Talks: William Davies King and Rebecca Falkoff 7:00 - 8:00 PM Staged Reading: Collections of Nothing Enough is Enough EVENT DETAILS: Talks: William Davies King and Rebecca Falkoff The Creative Edge of Collecting William Davies King has spent a lifetime collecting nothing in a way he brought to light in his 2008 book Collections of Nothing. His collecting of such things as Cheez-It boxes, “Place Stamp Here” squares, ...